The Supreme Court spent a gruesome hour Tuesday debating a constitutional way to execute a Missouri man who has a rare medical condition, with the likely decider, new Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joining the court’s liberals with tough questions for the state.

Modern and ancient execution methods — a firing squad, electrocution, hanging, lethal gas, being burned at the stake — all made appearances during the court’s sober assessment of ways to kill Russell Bucklew without violating the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.